JEDDAH: Visitors to the Salman open beach in Jeddah won’t have to deal with garbage for now, thanks to the volunteers who tidied up the popular destination for picnickers on Friday.
A total of 2,176 volunteers, including children from various schools, joined the cleanup drive organized by the Alliance of Pro-Active Organizations-Center for Environmental Advocacy (APOCEA) and collected tons of mostly plastic trash and bottles left by irresponsible beachgoers.
The volunteers were from 60 Filipino community organizations and several international schools, joined by the International Indian School in Jeddah (IISJ), which had the biggest delegation of 389 students and teachers.
After the collected rubbish were loaded on eight Dyna trucks for proper disposal, the participants proceeded to celebrate.
APOCEA leader Peddie Holanda said the beach cleanup is part of the awareness campaign to make people become active participants in conserving nature. Everyone can become an “earth warrior” by observing cleanliness, which is next to godliness, he said.
“When you throw plastic bottles or candy wrappers into the sea, these could end up being swallowed by marine animals or seabirds by mistake. Plastic materials don’t belong to the ocean, and animals don’t need them,” said Holanda, an engineer who had been leading the campaign in Jeddah for the past decade.
Consul General Imelda M. Panolong led a big delegation from the Philippine Consulate in solidarity with the community groups. “It’s important for everybody to be aware of the state of our oceans and waters and to do something about it,” she said in a speech at the opening of the cleanup-cum-picnic.
“It is one thing to know and another thing to really act on it; the consciousness and awareness should just not stop there and that we should continue doing it in our daily lives in our special and humble way,” she added.
One of the youngest participants was Patricia Ranoco, a 9-year-old member of the Serenata children’s choir. “I am happy and I felt good picking trash. This cleanup is special to me, we are just like in a family picnic,” she told Arab News.
Ayman A. Darandary, marketing general manager Alhamrani-Fuchs Petroleum Saudi Arabia Ltd., said his company did not hesitate to sponsor the event since it was well within the company’s corporate mission and core value of not only respecting nature but also “doing everything we can to preserve nature.”
Mohammad Imran, an Economics teacher at IISJ, said the school participated in the beachfront cleanup “to give our students awareness on how to protect and preserve our coastal waters and the planet Earth as a whole.”
He said the IISJ students have expressed their desire to join next year’s campaign and are pushing their teachers to help organize similar campaigns among members of the Indian community.
Aside from the IISJ, the other schools that sent delegations to the event were the International Philippines School in Jeddah (IPSJ), Gems International School, Al-Badr International School, and Poise International School.
The other participating groups were the APO alumni and family members, OFW Council of Leaders, Samahang Magdalo International, Fuchs Cycling Team - Jeddah, International Medical Center, King Faisal Specialist Hospital, GIG Champion Team, GIG Golden Family Team, Desert Unstoppable, Serenata, Desert Knights, Ranao Divers, Guardians Bonafide, Jeddah Bikers, Samahang Ilokano, United Ilocano, United Ilocandia, Binidayadain, Jeddah Pongers, Kapit Bisig, Lanao Lakers, MARCA, Nungnungan Int’l. Org., Spectrum and NSI-Nortehanon.
An alphabet soup of organizations were also represented, including the OFWCC, OKOR, CWC, PGBI, SRB, PICE, SHAKBA, SPTC, UMEA, GSSI, COMSOFIL, KASAPI, MOSLEM, BALOI, FIMAA,JSDAO,CFC ANCOP,BOFWAN, PICPA, PSME WRKSA, ADAMAS NU OMEGA, ACT-CIS, RC Club, and FIMAF KSA.